Saint-Laurent-l'Abbaye

The commune takes its name from the Abbey of Saint-Laurent, which gave rise to the village. The site has housed a religious establishment since at least the 6th century, when a monastery dedicated to Saint Lawrence was founded, traditionally attributed to Wulfin, a prince of royal blood, who dedicated it to Saint Lawrence.^[5] The establishment was initially known as the Monastery of Saint-Wulfin or Longrest (Longoretense monasterium).

Around 1084, Robert of Nevers, Bishop of Auxerre, entrusted the monastery to Augustinian canons and elevated it to the status of an abbey.^[5] The abbey served as a resting point on the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) and at its height in the late 12th century was considered nearly as influential as the Priory of La Charité.^[5] In 1199, the area around the abbey was the scene of battles between Pierre de Courtenay, Count of Nevers, and Hervé de Donzy.^[5]

The abbey was severely damaged during the Hundred Years' War and the French Wars of Religion, being almost entirely ruined by 1567.^[6] It was partially restored in the 17th century, but the remaining community of monks dispersed shortly before the French Revolution.^[5] Following the Revolution, the buildings were sold to private individuals; a fire in 1816 destroyed part of the structure, and the church bell tower collapsed in 1948.^[7]

The 12th-century Romanesque portal of the abbey church was acquired by an antiquarian dealer in 1922 and sold in 1928 to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it remains today.^[7] In 1980, a local association (A.S.P.A.S.) was founded to promote and safeguard the abbey site. On 18 July 1996, the surviving vestiges of the abbey were listed as a monument historique.^[6] In 2022, local historian and benefactress Jeanne Pautrat (1917–2022) bequeathed €1 million to the Caisse pour les Monuments et les Sites de la Nièvre (Camosine) for the restoration of the site.^[7]

• Abbaye Saint-Laurent-lès-Cosne
• Communes of the Nièvre department